There is a need to construct miniature, micro-scale motors for various applications such as micromechanical systems for micro and nanotechnology. Unfortunately, traditional electric motor systems prohibit down scaling due to the various components needed for the designs and the overall contact nature of the system.
As such, a dramatically different electric motor architecture is needed that allows miniaturization. One important requirement at small scale is that the motor has to have a non-contact design, otherwise the friction loss over the rotational kinetic energy of the system becomes too large making the operation of the motor very difficult if not impossible. Another important factor at play in micromechanical systems is the significant adhesion force between micro- and nano-scale objects attributed to van der Walls and Casimir force.
Thus, an improved, scalable electric motor architecture would be desirable.